Fishing tool for oil wells



0. DHOOGE. FISHING Tool. FOR olL WELLS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. I5,'I92I.

Patented Feb. 7, 1922.

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WITNESSES ATTO R N EY OSCAR! IDAHOQGE, QF CHICAGO,A ILLINOIS.

PATENT OFFICE.

msnm@ Toor. Fon oIL WELLS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 7, 1,922.

application am rem-nary' 15, 1921. serial No. 445,166.

To all w wmit may concern Be it known that I, OSCAR DHooGn/'a citizen of the United States, residing at Ghicago, in the county ofyCook and State of Illinois, have invented new and useful Improvements in Fishing Tools for Oil Vells, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has reference to fishing tools for oil wells and is designed especially to permit the recovery of the lower piston of a double-acting pump, the piston rod of' which often vbreaks above the lower` piston at a point between the two pistons, andv with fishing tools as heretofore proposedlis a difficult, tedious and time-consurning opera tion, frequently requiring the pulling of the pump casing with attendant disadvantages.

There arev types of oil wellpumps employing double-acting reciprocating pistons, of which the lower one is carried by a solid pump rod, while the upper one is carried by a hollow piston rod, through which the solid rod extends. The solid or lower piston rod is connected to the' lower piston itself by means of a coupling and it at times occurs that the solid rod will break closely adjacent to the lower piston.

With the facilities precedingthis invention, it was necessary to take outthe working barrel from the well, this requiring the services of abouteight men for Vfive days, more or less, in taking out and replacing the pump barrel. With the invention'available, the lower piston may be removed without the necessity of taking out the pump barrel and can be replaced in but a small fraction of the time hertofore found lnecessary for the purpose and such operation can be performed by a single person, thus greatly reducing the time of again putting the well into service to an almost negligible amount. The invention comprises aV fishing tool head with opposed pivoted jaws .heldin approached position by outwardly yieldable springs, and the jaws have inturned teeth proportionately bevelled so that when the fishing tool is lowered sufficiently to meet the break in the inner pump rod, the broken end will enter the fishing head with the bevelled teeth spreading apart so as to Apass the broken off coupling and snap together about the lower end of the coupling, thus anchoring the head to the lower piston, the upper piston having already been Withdrawn from the well. The attachment of the fishing head to the broken rod is automatic and the action is suoli that the fishing head becomes attached to the lower piston against possi-V bility of detachment, whereupon the lower piston may be lifted to the'surface of the ground and a new piston rod may then be applied and-lowered into the well, after which the'upper piston may be properly in-A serted into the well and the pumping may proceed, the whole operationrequiring but a relatively short time, so that the length of time during which the well is out of service is measured by hours rather than days.-

The invention will be bestunderstood from a consideration ofthe following def. tailed description taken in connectionwth the accompanying drawings ,forming 'Part Ofthis Specaton, With the understandin 1.

however, that the invention is notconfine' to any strict conformity with the showing in the drawings, but may be changed and modif fied so long as such changes and modifica'- tions mark no material departure from ythe salient features of the invention 'as ,expressed in the appended claims. I

In the drawings: Q

Figure l is a longitudinal section of an oil well containing the lower` piston with. its

broken,V piston rod, and showing the fishingy tool about to be engaged with the vbroken piston rod. i Fig. 2 is a similar section on'a somewhat larger scale showing the broken piston rod engaged by the fishing tool and being lifted. Fig.-3 is a'longitudinal section showing the fishing tool alone and in solid and dotted lines` illustrating the vaction ofthe fishing jaws or teeth. l j

Fig. 4.- is a section on'v the line lifof Fig. 3.

eferring to the drawing,` there is shown a well tube 1 carrying at its lower end a pump barrel 2 by means of a coupling 3. At the lower end'of the pump barrel 2, it

has applied thereto a coupling 4 in turn carrying a .strainer 5. The parts already described may be the same as those usually employed in oil wells and, therefore, 'require 'i no special or extended description., Y

The pistons of the pump need not differ from those in common use and, therefore, but one piston 6v is illustrated, although is to be understood that the invention has spe:

cial reference to double-acting pumps, although the piston 6 represents the lower piston of a-doubleacting pump and is shown as `provided.with a htll'l'f of piston coupled lengths to the surface of the ground,

where it is assumed to be connected with a suitable pumping head, which, however, is-

not illustrated in the drawings, Vsince it has yno relation to the invention. For the same reason, the upper piston and the hollow piston rod through which the solid rod extends is not shown in the drawings. c

When the piston rod of the lower piston breaks, the lower piston naturally gra-vitates to the bottom of thepump barrel 2 and the upper piston may then be readily withdrawn from the well, which operation is performed to eliminate the upper piston and permit access t0 the lower piston. Then the well. has been cleared of the upper piston, which is readily accomplished because the pump barrel is of appropriate size to permit the withdrawal of both pistons, the fishing tool of the invention is lowered into the well until within reach of the lower piston, which in the meantime has gravitated to the bottom of the pump barrel and there rests.

The fishing tool is provided with a fishing head l0, comprising a cylindrical member 11 with an upper end 12, terminating in a tubular extension 13 rising from the upper end for an appropriate distance. The extension 13 is connected by a cou ling 14 Vto a. pipe 15 carried by a collar 16, w ich may be screwed onto the upper end of the pipe 15 and the collar 16 is provided with a bail 17 for the attachment of a rope or cable 18,.by means of which the fishing tool is manipulated. The

cable 18 is assumed to extend to the'surface of the ground, where it is connected toY any appropriate hoisting mechanism. The cylindrical head or member 11 is pro-vided on opposite sides with. matching spaced ears 19, in

which are inserted other ears 2O on opposed jaws 21, the ears 19 yand 2O being traversed by pintles 22, whereby the jaws are hinged to the head 11. The jaws 21 conform to the ,l curvature of the head 11 for a part ofthe Y circumference of the head 11, lbut the jaws may be separated for an appropriate distance so as to veach Vinclude considerably less. than half the circumference of the fishing head and it' is to be understood that the fishing head may include either two jaws as shown,

or more than two jaws, by anappropriate limitation of the size, circumferentially, of the jaws.

Each jaw 21 is provided at the lower end i with an intuir-ned tooth or flange 23 having the lower edge 24 bevelled toward the longitudinalaxis of the head, so fishing head is lowered to the coupling 8, the

bevelled edges 24. will engage the coupling 8 i and the weight of the fishing headwill cause the jaws to expand, because of the bevelled edges 24, until they pass over the coupling` that when Vthe 8 and snap toward each other again, wherefore the teeth or flanges 23 will underride the coupling and automatically lock thereto, whereuponv a lifting impulse being given to the rope 18, the piston 6 is constrained to follow Vand may be lifted from the well without difficulty.

The pintles 22 are so related to the upper edges of the jaws 21 thatthese jaws will only close together to a predetermined extent but may separate about the pintles 22 to a considerably greater extent. The jaws are constrained toward their innermost position by springs 25, which may be simply leafsprings with a free end 26 bent or curved soi-as to yield readily to the outward movement of the jaws, while the upper ends of the jaws are bent toward thehead 11, as shownl at 27,

and there made fast by screws 28 or by other` fastening means. In Fig. 3, the. normal position of the jaws 21 is shown in solid lines, while the expanded position of the jaws and the yielding of the springs is indicated in dotted lines.

What is claimed is i 1. A fishing tool for oil wells, comprising a cylindrical head with an extension for the attachment of a manipulating rope or strand, opposed jaws hinged to the head at the-end thereof remote from the extension with said jaws terminating in inwardly extending` fianges to receive and embrace the pump rod coupling, and outwardly yielding springs fast to the head and bearingagainst the outer faces of the jaws. v

f 2. A fishing too-l for oil wells, comprising.

a head with carrying means therefor, op-Y posed jaws hinged to the head in depending f relation thereto and terminating in-inturned lower ends bevelled to yield tothe loweringl of the jaws over a couplingof a pump pis'- ton, and leaf springs fast to the fishing head and bearing against the jaws, said jaws having a limited approaching movement and the spring yielding to forces tending to separate the jaws.

3, A. fishing tool for oil wells, comprising a. cylindrical head with hollow stem estending axially therefrom and provided at the end remote from the head with a bail for the attachment of a supporting rope, opposed j aws pivoted to the head. and normally separated sufficiently to move over a p-iston'rod cou4 pling with the j aws having inturned flanges spaced to slip over and snapA under the cdupling, and springs exterior to the jaws and carried` by the head for maintaining the jaws in an approached position andyieldable to oscarY DHooen 

